Discipleship Point
2 Chronicles 5:1,7, 11, 13b,14
God’s Mercy and Israel’s Unfaithfulness
When all the work Solomon had done for the temple of the LORD was finished… The priests then brought the ark of the LORD’s covenant to its place in the inner sanctuary of the temple… The priests then withdrew from the Holy Place… Accompanied by trumpets, cymbals and other instruments, the singers raised their voices in praise to the LORD and sang:
“He is good; his love endures forever.”
Then the temple of the LORD was filled with the
cloud, and the priests could not perform their
service because of the cloud, for the glory
of the LORD filled the temple of God.
Pondering Point
Just as God filled the tabernacle with a cloud upon its completion, He now fills the temple Solomon has built once it is completed – again with a cloud. Both sites became synonymous with meeting God there.
By the way, the Bible envisions a time when God’s space and men’s space will totally overlap (John 21:3). How cool will that be?! If you have not done so, check out Bible Project’s video about temples:
Until that time comes, we live in perishable, breakdown-able bodies. Paul describes it like this:
Revelation 21:22-23
I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp.
Discipleship Point
Isaiah 1:18
- Come now, let us settle the matter:
Though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red as crimson,
they shall be like wool.
~ The Lord,
As we ponder our bodies being temples of God, take a look at this picture taken in Missouri. The cornerstone reads Saint Patrick’s Church 1952 A.D. and was likely established with dreams to glorify God among that community.
The lottery advertisement above the marker hints that the owners settled on a much lesser dream for that property.
Maybe that church sold and built elsewhere, but we humans don’t get the option of trading our God-given bodies for upgraded versions. The temple you’re born with is the one you live with. It’s also the one many of us dedicated to God at some point – often with dreams to glorify God through the ensuing years. So here’s comes the question: Have you sold out for lesser dreams? Is your once consecrated-to-God temple now dreaming of smaller things.
Today’s quote from Isaiah is God asking His people to reconsider how they are living and to return to life in, with, and under Him.
Let God’s word serve as a call to you to come to Him and deal with your life so that your sin might be eliminated, dissipated, forgiven, erased – whatever image works for you. Who knows? God might just resurrect those long-lost dreams you shelved.
Prayer Prompt for the Day
Get with God. Confess your sins to God; Confess your faith in God (that Jesus is Lord);
Reconsider with God your life and dreams; then return to living fully for God.